Better Than Expected
by zosimos
Summary: "Ishihara-san, wait!" Masayoshi yelped, running after her. "I'm not hiding a girlfriend!"


It was the doorbell that woke Gotou.

He blinked, a little muzzy - the room was dark, with hints of daylight creeping in under the shades and ... _doorbell?_ He didn't _have_ a doorbell. He must have dreamed it. Content with this obvious conclusion, he started drifting back to sleep, Masayoshi's breath warm and even on the back of his neck.

_... Masayoshi?_

The doorbell rang again. Masayoshi complained a little when Gotou sat up, but then he rolled over, so that his face was buried in the pillow that Gotou just abandoned. Gotou rubbed his hand over his eyes, looked down at Masayoshi, who had curled around him and gone right back to sleep, and then lifted the covers to be certain. Yup, they were both naked.

He had taken Masayoshi out - they hadn't had occasion to go out drinking since Masayoshi had turned twenty, and Gotou could only recall snippets of the evening. He did remember kissing Masayoshi to get him to shut up in the taxi, and the way Masayoshi had moaned against his mouth when he did it again in the elevator, and the noise he made with that same mouth into the pillow when Gotou kissed the area between his shoulderblades. Gotou covered his face with both hands to hide the blush, although Masayoshi was still asleep.

They had come back to Masayoshi's and had loud drunken sex and the worst part of that was he couldn't _remember_ most of it.

The doorbell - _again_ and Gotou was mostly awake now. He nudged Masayoshi, who mumbled blearily into the pillow. He was probably hungover as hell, Gotou himself had a healthy headache going in the back of his skull but he'd had to go into work on much worse. "Masayoshi," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "Someone's-"

Masayoshi's cell phone went off, from somewhere on the floor. He sat bolt upright, almost cracked his head into Gotou's, and flailed over to the floor on reflex. Somehow he located his phone, under Gotou's shirt, and answered it. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm awake!"

Gotou could hear Ishihara from across the room. "I AM DOWNSTAIRS BUZZ ME IN THIS INSTANT."

Masayoshi ran out of the room in a panic, still naked. "I'm going I'm going!"

He sat on the bed for a moment, brain still not booted up nor entirely certain what was going on - watching Masayoshi run naked had been nice, though - and then everything registered. Gotou surged out of the bed, or rather tried to as he got caught in the tangle of sheets and landed on his shoulder half out of the bed. The noise attracted Masayoshi's attention, and he stopped on the threshold of the bedroom and stared at Gotou like he didn't expect to see him. "Gotou-?"

"You're naked!" Gotou yelled at him, got his feet under him and free of the sheets.

Masayoshi looked down at himself and panicked. "Ishihara's almost here! Where are my-" Gotou threw Masayoshi's underwear at him as he rooted around for his pants in the mess of clothing they'd left behind the night before. Masayoshi held them away and frowned. "These are from last night!"

"PUT THEM ON YOU IDIOT YOU CAN CHANGE WHEN SHE'S LEFT," Gotou yelled, and lunged over the bed. He still hadn't found his own underwear, and Masayoshi was putting on Gotou's shirt because it was the closest at hand when the buzzer that indicated Ishihara was in the hall went off.

They exchanged identical looks of desperation - Gotou scooped his pants off the ground and darted into the bathroom, slamming the door. He leaned against it, heart beating like a snare drum and realized that maybe the best cure for a hangover was pure, undiluted_ panic_.

* * *

><p>"Good morning," Masayoshi said when he opened the door. It was hard to be cheerful when it felt like his head was going to split open but at least he was somewhat good at faking it. Ishihara stared at him and Masayoshi realized that he hadn't brushed his hair. "I was sleeping," he said, by way of apology.<p>

Ishihara looked around as she followed Masayoshi in, but she stopped in the threshold of the foyer. "Do you have someone over, Hazama-kun?"

He hesitated just long enough for her to sigh, and cross her arms. "What have I told you about girlfriends?" she asked rhetorically.

Masayoshi rubbed the back of his neck and forced a small laugh. "It's just Gotou-san," he said. "We stayed up late watching videos and he stayed over..."

Ishihara pointedly looked to his couch, which was immaculate, and the coffee table was not covered in plates or open cans like it was when Gotou had stayed over in the past. She could see into his bedroom from where she was standing, and looked at the mess of a bed and remnants of clothes scattered on the floor. When she finally looked back at him Masayoshi was bright red, and would not meet her eye.

"Gotou-san," she repeated dryly. Then she stepped forward and pinched Masayoshi's cheek with her fingers. "You cannot have a girlfriend, it will mess with your ratings," she said sharply. "Do you want your fans to drop you?"

"Owowowow," Masayoshi said weakly.

She grumbled and released him, because this close she could see the bruises on his neck. "Good grief, she really did a number on you. The make-up artists will gossip." Remarkably, her expression softened, and took a step back, reaching into her bag. "I came to deliver your itinerary for next week, since I'm going out of town this weekend."

"Ah," Masayoshi said, rubbing his cheek with one hand. He accepted the clipboard of papers from her and looked down. "Wait, I thought I had the weekend off-"

She went right past him, and Masayoshi turned on his heel in a panic. "I want to see this girlfriend that you're hiding before I go," she announced.

"Ishihara-san, wait!" Masayoshi wailed, running after her. "I'm not hiding a girlfriend!"

"You can't fool me," Ishihara said to Masayoshi, opening the bathroom door. "Excuse me! I'm Ishihara, I'd just like to meet yo-"

Gotou looked up from where he had a hand braced on the sink, Masayoshi's toothbrush in his mouth. Masayoshi breathed a sigh of relief that he had at least pulled on his pants. Gotou squinted at Ishihara, and then took the toothbrush out of his mouth. "Do you _mind_?"

"Ahh!" Masayoshi said. "Gotou-san, don't use MY toothbrush again-!"

Ishihara very calmly closed the door to the bathroom, grabbed Masayoshi by the ear, and dragged him away. "OW," Masayoshi said, and Ishihara pointed at one of the green chairs in the sitting room. Masayoshi sat, quietly, and rubbed his abused ear.

Gotou emerged from the bathroom after a moment, still shirtless. He walked over to them both and stopped behind Masayoshi, and simply looked at Ishihara. Then he leaned down, turned Masayoshi's head up, and kissed him.

Masayoshi turned bright pink, all the way to his ears. Gotou looked right at Ishihara defiantly, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "No girlfriend," she repeated, and sighed deeply. She pointed at Masayoshi. "You CANNOT let this get out," she said. "Not yet. I need - I don't know what I need just yet, because you manage to break rules that I haven't even thought to _set_."

"Hai," Masayoshi said, his fists on his knees. His face was still pink.

She waved her hand in front of her face. "Don't worry, I'll figure out a way to spin it. I'm sure the press will eat this up-"

Gotou's ears went pink. "Wait, _what_."

"Press?" Masayoshi said, a terrified expression on his face.

"I'll worry about all of that later." Ishihara checked her watch. "I have a plane to catch." She picked up the clipboard from where Masayoshi dropped it on the ground. "You do have the weekend off," she said. "But I won't be here to go over the information for the variety show that's taping on Monday." She handed the clipboard to Gotou. "Make sure he's prepared."

"Eh?" Gotou said.

"I leave him in your hands," Ishihara said. "I'll let myself out."

Gotou stared after her, and then looked down at Masayoshi, who had his head in both hands. "Hey," he said, as the door behind Ishihara clicked closed. "You okay?"

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Masayoshi said miserably.

Gotou patted his shoulder encouragingly. "It's not that bad, I mean ... people were gonna find out eventually. Although I don't know if I like the idea of Ishihara involving the press-"

"No I think I'm gonna throw _up_," Masayoshi said urgently.

It took a moment for it to click. By some miracle Gotou got him to the bathroom just in time, and rubbed his back as he sat on his knees. "I don't think I like alcohol," Masayoshi said weakly, and Gotou chuckled.

"I'll get you some water," he said, and kissed the top of Masayoshi's head.


End file.
